I have a 669 and it's not my favorite compact 9mm, the 3913 is, but the 669 is nice for concealed carry during the winter. The grip is a little thick because it's a double stack, but it's short. It's a nice accurate shooter for the range. If you have larger hands, it's comfortable to shoot but my wife and daughter can't get their hands around the grip, so it's the gun my son and I shoot.

The previous poster mentioned the dates, and those are the same dates of production that I've seen. I got mine in '91 when I came back from Desert Storm (welcome home present). I will never sell or trade it off...

I bought a 669 in '85 or '86. It was stainless and aluminum. I carried it some but didn't really care for it. Grip was like holding a 2x4 (and I wear XL gloves). Mine wasn't very accurate --- or maybe I just couldn't shoot it well with the terrible sights. I WILL say it was always reliable with the 115 grain Silvertips that I fed it -- never a problem.

My 3913LS is a TOTALLY different pistol. I like it very much and it's accurate.

I thought the Model 669 was an answer to my prayers since I had always wanted a Devel-modified Model 59. I cut down a Model 59 to Devel size, but the recoil spring was a problem. The Model 669 recoil spring assembly solved that problem. I got one of the early Model 669 pistols as part of Smith's "Dealer Sample" program in 1986, and still have it. The early ones did not have the ambidextrous safety.

The Model 669 was "dropped" when the improved Model 6906 was introduced in about 1989. I prefer the Model 6906 for its improvements to the trigger and the removal of the ugly "hooked" trigger guard.

When the Kel-Tec P11 came out in 1995, I retired the much bigger and heavier Smith M669/M6906 pistols for compact 9x19 carry, giving up only two rounds for much smaller size and much less weight.

hushpuppy: To remove the magazine safety on any of the metal-framed pistols, just remove the rear sight and lift out the magazine safety plunger and associated parts. Put them back to restore the magazine safety.